You’re painting the house what color? Are you sure about this? Wait, why did you choose black? Yes, I’m sure about painting the exterior of the Queen Anne black. Well, I was after the fact. Once we got through some pretty extensive renovations to the exterior of the Queen Anne it was time to pick a color. And you guessed it, I went with black. A lot of people questioned that decision but I could see the end result and am happy I was brave enough to go for it. Today as we wrap up the full house renovation of this beautiful historic home I’ll walk you through the exterior renovations it went through and how and why I chose black for this home.
MORE POSTS ON THE QUEEN ANNE:
Reworking the Floor Plan of the Queen Anne
Embracing Open Concept for the Kitchen and Dining Room at the Queen Anne
Creating a Private Master Suite at the Queen Anne
My Favorite Colorful Front Doors
Board and Batten: The Four Questions I’m Asked Most Often
The Before
Buckle up because this house was bad. Having sat vacant for many years, it quickly began deteriorating far worse than any house I’ve ever worked on. And while the interior was in pretty bad shape, the exterior was far worse. Here’s what the house looked like when I purchased it.
The Exterior Renovations
The typical renovations for any historic home we work on consists of the same basic steps:
1. Repair any structural repairs as needed.
2. Repair and/or replace siding and trim with like material.
3. Make sure the windows are operable.
4. Repair tongue and groove porch flooring if needed.
5. Replicate any old house details specific to the historic home.
6. Once repairs are made the paint team will sand, caulk, prime, and paint all surfaces.
7. Replace the roof if needed.
While the Queen Anne went through all of these steps too, due to the condition of the house several other steps had to be included. I purchased the house from a couple who had already started several of the exterior repairs so we simply picked up where they left off.
Tree Work
Before any real work could begin, there were quite a few trees that had to go. While I am a huge fan of the large trees in our neighborhood, there were several that were dead or leaning. So, I had my tree guy come out and cut those down to make sure it was safe to work on the house.
Front of House
The most visible concern was the front porch and to say it was in limbo was an understatement. During demolition by the previous owners, the original porch columns and railings had been removed and temporary supports put in place to hold up what was left of the porch roof. Thankfully they saved those items and stored everything so that we were able to reuse them.
The construction team first had to stabilize the porch roof followed by replacing a couple of large sections of the roof itself. This consisted of new rafters and roof sheathing followed by new structural beams to support it. Once the roof was in the dry they worked on the floor joists before installing all new tongue and groove pine flooring on the porch.
BEADBOARD CEILING
After stopping work on the porch to work inside for several weeks, they continued on with the next step being to install a new beadboard ceiling. While some of the original beadboard had been saved, it wasn’t nearly enough for the entire porch. The solution was to install the old beadboad on the right side and new everywhere else.
PORCH COLUMNS
The next project for the porch was to reinstall the porch columns. However, before they could do that they had to repair the bottoms of almost all of the columns. They did this using a spliced technique with angled cuts and once repaired, they were ready to be reinstalled in their original location.
ORIGINAL DETAILS RESTORED
Next they worked on several old house details such as the trim around the porch columns and reinstalling the railings. The railings had also been removed and carefully stored so we were able to make repairs as needed and then reinstall.
I personally worked to restore decorative scroll details above the center of the porch. I cut out pieces that were missing so that we could add those back and once painted white against the black on the house they really stand out. Once all of those repairs were completed it finally started to feel like we had turned a major corner in this exterior renovation.
And last but not least, after all of the repairs were completed we let the paint team work their magic.
While it’s easy to write a summary of the repairs, the process itself was not. All of this work was only possible through the hard work of some really talented contractors I’m thankful to have on my team. Here’s a progression of several months of hard work.
Back of House Renovations
The repairs to the back of the house thankfully weren’t quite as complicated. While several repairs did have to be made, it was on a much smaller scale than the front. After removing the dilapidated deck and small back porch, we rebuilt both and had some of the brick columns rebuilt too using salvaged bricks. Since the back porch is small and off of the kitchen, I decided to screen it in and love it. Now the back of the house has a cozy feeling and will be perfect for a morning cup of coffee.
Exterior Paint – Choosing Black
The Inspiration
Each historic home has a different personality and while I do appreciate a historically inspired three or four paint color scheme, I often times like to do something different. To push the envelope just a bit. That was the case for this home. From early on I was leaning towards a black and white exterior after seeing some inspiration from homes like these. I knew it would be a big risk and that not everyone would approve but I think sometimes you just have to go with your instincts and I’m so glad I did.
Going with a Black Exterior
Once I gave the green light to the painters, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. They did a sample with an off-the-shelf black and I liked it so off they went. If I’m being honest, once the dark gray primer went on, I was having second thoughts. And once they started with the black, I was pretty closet to panicking. I’m not sure if it was the color itself or because I was trying something very different on a house that’s so visible.
Thankfully once they started trimming out with the bright white my panic subsided and I knew it was the right call.
The Soft Pink Doors
To offset the dark tones of the black, I tested a couple of pinks even before the black was painted. I wanted a color that would both be complimentary to the black siding yet not feel too dainty if that makes sense.
I chose Valspar Semi-Precious in semi-gloss and with the intricate details of the doors and the original hardware, it was the perfect choice. And I’m pretty sure this will go down as my all-time favorite front door on any of the historic homes I’ve renovated.
The After – The Black Exterior
Once everything was painted, I simply loved it. And thankfully many others did too. I think sometimes you have to trust your instincts and just go for it. This entire historic home was an absolute honor to renovate and restore and I hope the new homeowners will love it as much as I do.
EXTERIOR SOURCES:
PAINT COLORS:
Walls: Black (off the shelf) in satin
Trim: SW Extra White in gloss
Door: Valspar Semi-Precious in semi-gloss
Porch Floors: Valspar HGSW3472 Avaitrix
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